Eclipse of the Moon
by SqueeGurl
Summary: Team 7 Heads to the rock country to see an exhibit of Jutsus from around the world, but something doesn't quite seem right about the display's. They almost seem...too real. Better summary to be expected
1. Chapter 1

**Eclipse of the Moon: Prelude

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**A/N**: This is my first fan fic so please be kind with the reviews. Critique is welcome. If you see that I get a Jutsu wrong or something is out of place, let me know. I've only seen up to episode 90 of the anime. Also, keep in mind that this is AU so some things might be out of place.

**Disclaimer**: Naruto is not mine, but some Jutsu's I made up, same with a few characters.

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Kakashi leaned back against the tree in which he had perched himself to read his book in peace. He noticed that lately Naruto kept trying to read over his shoulder and he didn't think the book was proper reading for the twelve year old Genin. Hell, it wasn't proper reading for anyone in general. He smiled beneath his mask as he turned the page but that smile faded quickly. He had just finished the book. He sighed and tucked the book away in his vest for safe keeping until he could pick up the latest copy. He was just about to head home when he heard a squeal from below. Curious, he leaned to the side to see what all the noise was about. 

"Ooo! Look Sasuke-kun! There's an exhibit in the Rock country!" Sakura squealed happily as she waved a flyer in the Uchiha's disgruntled face.

Sasuke grunted in acknowledgment and continued cleaning his kunai, which Kakashi noted, was already clean. The young Uchiha must have been only doing it now in hopes that Sakura would leave him be.

"C'mon, Sasuke-kun! It looks like fun! I think we should ask Kakashi-sensei if we can all go." She said as she leaned over the seated boy in front of her. "It has displays of all sorts of different Jutsus." She said trying to at least get his full attention. She knew he had a soft spot for learning new moves, but his Sharingan made it easy enough. All he had to do was see a move once and he knew it.

"What kind of displays?" He asked as he looked up at her for a moment.

"It says that they are sculptures, but in this picture they look so real." She said as she handed him the flyer.

Sasuke took it without comment and glanced at the picture, "Real. Right." he said as he rolled his eyes and handed the flyer back, "They don't look so real to me." He said with a grunt as he stuffed the Kunai into his holster and pulled out a rather dull looking shiruken and started rubbing the oiled cloth on it instead.

Sakura's shoulders slumped forward, "Aw c'mon. I think it would be a great learning experience." She said with a half pout as her inner self cursed at Sasuke furiously. Why did he always have to be so difficult?

"Then ask Kakashi-sensei."

Sakura stood with her hands on her hips now, "Well I would, but I can't find him."

"Did you try looking up?" Sasuke asked as he looked straight up at Kakashi and nearly startled the Jounin out of the tree.

Sakura did just that and when she saw Kakashi-sensei she waved the flyer in his direction, "Well, Sensei? What do you think?"

Kakashi dropped out of the tree and landed in a crouch beside Sasuke, "Depends on where in the Rock country it is. Konoha isn't on very friendly terms with some villages there." He said as he stood and took the flyer from Sakura. Seeing that the location of the exhibit was in Yamakage City, well known for it's large marketplace, it seemed safe enough.

Yamakage. Named as such because the city was situated at the base of a mountain and was dark for the better part of the day because of the mountain's shadow.

"Well?" Sakura asked as she looked up to Kakashi with what could be best described as puppy dog eyes.

Kakashi shrugged, "I'll have to ask the Hokage. I'll let you guys know tomorrow after training. Mind you, if you guys get lazy, I won't even think about taking you." he said with a tone that clearly said 'The harder you guys train tomorrow, the better your chances of going'.

Sakura nodded, "Hai, Sensei!" she also shot a glare at Sasuke. If he really didn't want to go, he might get lazy tomorrow.

Sensing the glare from his pink haired teammate he shook his head, "Don't worry, I won't slack off. Just make sure Dobe does as he's supposed to." Sasuke said as he deposited the Shuriken in his holster and stood up.

Sakura mentally slapped herself, She better go and let Naruto know what the deal was. If he didn't see anything in it for him, he might slack off as usual, "Good point, Sasuke-kun."

"Do what you guys have to do. I'm off the see the Hokage." Kakashi said as he disappeared in a poof of smoke.

Sakura coughed slightly and turned to say something to Sasuke but he too had disappeared. She frowned and headed to Ichiraku to talk to Naruto.

"Can I have another Miso and pork ramen please?" Naruto asked the older man behind the counter at Ichiraku.

The old man sighed, "Last one, alright?"

"Hai, Jiji-san!" Naruto said with a wide grin. He was lucky that Iruka-sensei had given him over a dozen coupons for a free meal at Ichiraku for helping round up a few stray kids from last week's forest hike. Poor Iruka-sensei had lost three of his students. Luckily Naruto had been training in the forest and heard the kids calling for the rest of the class. He rounded them up and brought them back to the trail they had wondered off from.

The old man plucked up one of the vouchers off the stack Naruto had placed on the counter and dropped a fist sized wad of ramen into a fresh bowl and handed it to Naruto, "Enjoy." He said boredly as he turned to start scrubbing the other half a dozen bowls Naruto had already emptied.

Naruto picked up his chopsticks and was about to start eating when a brightly colored piece of paper was thrust before his face.

"Nani?" Naruto was so surprised that he almost tumbled backwards off his stool.

"You're going with us Naruto." He heard Sakura say from behind him.

"Eh? Sakura-chan? Going where?" He said as he turned to come face to face with his favorite pink haired genin.

"This." She said as she jabbed the paper with her finger, "So train hard tomorrow, okay?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes and snatched the paper from her hands, "So, what is it?" he demanded as he scanned over the flyer.

"A Jutsu Exhibit. If we train hard tomorrow, we might get to go. Kakashi-sensei needs to clear it with Hokage-Sama first though." She said as she snatched the flyer back.

"Fine, wasn't like I was going to slack off tomorrow anyways." Naruto grumbled and turned back to his food.

"You better not!"

Sarutobi stood on a balcony in the Hokage building, over looking the village below him. He felt a presence behind him but didn't even bother to turn around, "Ah, Kakashi-san. What brings you here?" He said as he threw a glance over his shoulder to see Kakashi step up beside him.

"Hokage-sama. Sakura-chan brought this to my attention, and I thought it best if I brought it to yours." Kakashi said as he handed Sarutobi a copy of the flyer.

"Oh?" He was curious. It was rare that Kakashi brought anything to his attention, it was usually the other way around. He took the flyer and looked it over with mild curiosity.

Kakashi felt he should explain, "I'm only bringing it to you because of-"

"The recent disappearances in the area, correct?" Sarutobi finished Kakashi's sentence.

Kakashi nodded, "Hai. Think there's a connection?"

"Possibly, the demonstration in this photo looks remarkably like one of the missing Kunoichi of the sand." He tapped the picture, "Do you know anything of this Hayashi person that claims responsibility?"

Kakashi shook his head, "No, there's no Hayashi in the bingo book. I checked before I came here."

Sarutobi nodded before looking back out over the village, "Go ahead and take your team. Prepare them as if it were a B-Rank mission. If this show is some sort of cover for something bigger, I expect you and your team to get to the bottom of this, understood?"

Kakashi paused for a moment before nodding, "Hai. Hokage-sama."


	2. Chapter One: Sight

Eclipse of the Moon: Chapter one - Sight

Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to someone who is not me, however, any non-Naruto Character Character's and Jutsu's are mine, and mine alone.

"Ano sa, ano sa! Kaka-sensei! Are we there yet?" Naruto whined, Sakura counted, for the fifth time in the last half an hour.

Sakura sighed and secretly wished she had thought to bring something to gag the blonde. If he wasn't asking if they were there yet, he was complaining that he was hungry, or that his feet hurt, or that Sasuke was giving him a dirty look.

Kakashi didn't even bother to look up from his book, "Are we in a village or in a forest?"

"Forest." Naruto replied. He didn't quite understand what his Sensei was getting at.

"Then Naruto, the answer is no. We are not there yet." Kakashi said as he turned to a new page of his book.

Naruto narrowed his eyes and kicked a fist-sized stone that was lying in the middle of the path.

Sakura had to bite back a smile. Sometimes Kakashi-Sensei had a pretty good sense of humor, other times, she just couldn't figure him out. She took this opportunity to look around her at the trees and the path. She noticed that the farther they went, the more spaced out the trees became and the trail gradually became more and more rocky and less like the dirt paths of the forests around Konoha. Her thoughts were interrupted when Naruto let out a triumphant shout.

"Oi! Look, we're almost there! I can see the city now!" Naruto yelled to everyone in the group as he took off running towards the city laid out before them.

Sasuke shook his head and sighed, "Dobe..." and continued his slow but steady pace just a few feet ahead of Kakashi.

Kakashi looked up from his book momentarily and nodded, "Do go too far, Naruto." He called after the excited blonde.

It took the trio of Genin's and their Jounin leader close to another two hours after they spotted the city of Yamakage to actually set foot on one of the many paved streets within the city walls. They were stopped momentarily at the gates and were directed to a small inn at the edge of the city were they could stay for as long as they liked for a rather cheap amount. Upon hearing this bit of news about the inn, Sakura and Naruto both perked up.

"Sensei, can we go rest a little while before we go see the exhibit?" Sakura asked almost at once.

Kakashi peered over his book at Sakura and shrugged, "If the boys are alright with it, I don't see why not." He turned another page in his book before glancing over at Sasuke and Naruto.

Sasuke gave his trademark look to his Sensei and shrugged, "Whatever."

Naruto on the other hand objected, "I want to eat first!"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him, "Is that all you can think about? What else goes on in that head of yours other than what kind of ramen you're going to have for lunch?" She demanded as she placed her hands on her hips and gave him a dirty look.

Naruto shrugged, "I think about what kind of ramen I'll have for dinner and breakfast too ya know." He crossed his arms over his chest and turned away from Sakura. 'Why does she always have to be so mean to me? If it wasn't for me we would still be in Konoha.'

In all reality, the decision to come to Yamakage really had nothing to do with Naruto, Sasuke or Sakura. Once the Hokage had seen the flyer, it was decided that the group would go regardless if the Genins practiced hard in training or not. The trio worked hard anyways, for Kakashi saw this as an opportunity to work them to the bone the next morning. They had been on the trails for several days now and Kakashi knew that all three had to be tired and each one of them could use a decent bath and rest, not to mention a decent meal.

"The inn has food too, Baka." Sasuke said as he playfully punched Naruto in the shoulder.

Naruto stumbled forward more out of shock than force and rounded on Sasuke, "I never said the Inn didn't!" He said defensively.

Kakashi shook his head and herded the three towards the Inn, "Alright, it's decided, we'll go look at this exhibit tomorrow then." he paused for a moment and when no objections were sounded from the rest of team seven he pulled out a map he had been handed from the gate guard, "Looks like it's just down this street on the left."

Naruto nodded and ran on ahead to look for the inn while the other three followed, but at a much slower pace. They never lost sight of Naruto, he had to be the only blonde on the street wearing mostly orange so it was easy to spot him when he had stopped just outside of the inn.

'This is much better.' Sakura thought to herself as she sunk slowly into the hotspring behind the inn. It was one large spring divided into two by a thin but sturdy bamboo wall. She could hear the others on the other side of the wall but soon droned them out with her own thoughts of the exhibit and a soft bed instead of the sleeping bag she had slept in for the last four days. She sunk down into the water up to her chin and closed her eyes as she heard Naruto get loud about one thing or another.

"But sensei, they only have Udon, no ramen!" Naruto whined as he sat on the edge of the hotspring, towel covering his lap.

Kakashi, who was reclining towards the back of the spring, with his head back against the smooth rocks, lifted his head just enough to look at Naruto, "Then eat Udon." Kakashi personally didn't see what the big deal was. To him, noodles were noodles.

"But it's not Ramen!" Apparently to Naruto, an Inn that didn't serve Ramen was like a crime against nature.

Sasuke, already tired of the conversation cupped a rather large amount of water in his hands and flung it at Naruto, successfully drenching the Blonde, "There's bound to be a Ramen shop either on the way to or from the Exhibit. If it will shut you up, I'll buy." Sasuke glared at Naruto who returned the glare.

"Honestly?" Naruto had his doubts about Sasuke. Sure, he was a good person to have on the team, but there was something about him that always bugged Naruto.

"Change the topic and it's a deal." Sasuke said as he submerged himself lower into the water and closed his eyes, "For now, just relax. That's what we're here for. Besides, if you don't shut up, Sakura is likely to throw something over here, and knowing her aim, it might hit me."

Sakura, who was brought out of her deep thoughts the moment her name was mentioned, glared at the bamboo wall. She opened her mouth to reply to Sasuke, but instead looked around her for something to throw over the wall. Seeing nothing she could throw, she settled on grabbing the stone pitcher beside the edge of the spring and stepped out of the water.

Naruto was now nose deep in the water and thinking as he watched the ripples in the water that his breathing caused when he was brought out of his thoughts when a splash, a yelp, and a fit of laughter coming from the other side of the wall. He looked up to see Sasuke standing up in the spring looking quite like a cat who had been doused with water, quite irate and shocked. Naruto was further surprised to see a few ice cubes quickly melting in the water around Sasuke's waist. He quirked an eyebrow before calling over the wall, "Sakura-Chan! Who were you trying to hit?"

"Sasuke-Kun." She called back with a laugh, "He insulted my aim, so I thought I should show him how good my aim is."

Kakashi chuckled slightly as he stretched his arms up over his head, "Your aim has always been good, Sakura, no need to prove it with ice water."

They arrived at the exhibit around two in the afternoon. A passerby would wonder what had taken the group two hours to arrive at the building that held the exhibit within when it was only three blocks away. Anyone who knew of Naruto's eating habits would understand at once when they spotted the Ramen shop two blocks from the Inn.

Sasuke who had unknowingly signed away the better half of his spending money when he promised to buy Naruto ramen was now glaring at the back of the blonde's head. He had no idea Naruto could put away that much ramen. The Uchiha began to wonder how Naruto could still walk upright after putting away almost eight bowls of the noodles. His thoughts about Naruto's stomach capacity were interrupted when Kakashi commented on the building before them.

"I don't know Sakura, it looks deserted." Kakashi said with a shrug as he looked at the slightly run down building. On a block full of beautiful and new looking buildings, the one they stood before stood out like a sore thumb. The colorful paint on the outer walls of the building looked like they had seen better days, some of the windows were boarded up, and it didn't look like anyone had entered the building in some time. The only signs of recent use were the advertisements of "Awesome, Rare Jutsus!" posted in the few unboarded windows. Kakashi had an ominous feeling the minute he laid eyes on the building.

"But the flyer was only a week old." The pink haired genin protested as she peered into the neared window, "And besides, there's someone moving around in there." As she said this, the door to the building opened and an older looking gentleman stepped outside wearing a simple black work kimono.

"Ah! Welcome, welcome." The man said as he bowed to the four.

Kakashi tilted his head to the side before looking over the shoulder of the man, "This is the Jutsu thing, right?" He asked as he held up the flyer.

The older man nodded, "Hai, it is. It is no ordinary 'thing' as you call it. It is a work of art, being able to show off some of the little known Jutsu's to the rest of the world who is not on the path of the ninja."

Sasuke listened to the exchange in interest. The older man seemed very defensive and proud of his work, but Kakashi Sensei seemed like it was an ordinary thing. Interesting.

Kakashi shrugged at the older man's comment, "I take it you are Hayashi-san, the proprietor of this exhibit?"

The older man nodded, "Hai, that is correct."

"Good, then is there a fee to see this exhibit? I've brought my students from Konoha to see it."

Hayashi shook his head, "No fee. I just request that you refrain from attempting any of the Jutsus you see here in this building, and that you not touch any of the displays."

"Alright then, you heard the man, guys. Touch anything and I'll cut off your hands, got it?" Kakashi said as he looked around at his team.

All three looked at him and nodded before saying, "Hai, Kakashi-sensei." in unison.

Hayashi stepped to the side to allow them all to enter and Sakura was the first one inside, instantly forgetting all forewarnings and thoughts of this being a possible B-Rank mission.

Sasuke followed her and looked around as he entered. It didn't seem like anything too fancy. There were mannequins all about the giant room. Each one was roped off from the others with a little description plaque before each one with a description of each of the Jutsus the displays were showing.

Naruto was after Sasuke and he instantly headed to the far side of the room to look at one of the many cloning Jutsus. It appeared that this edge of the room had everything from the Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu to the Suna Bunshin no Jutsu. Naruto was imeadiatly intrigued and engrossed in studying the plaques before the displays to see how they were done.

Kakashi was the last to enter and once he had, Hayashi-san had closed the door behind him and shuffled off into the darkened hall to his left. Kakashi watched him close a door that stated quite plainly, "Keep Out" in bold Kanji. The silver haired Sensei shrugged and walked among the displays. Something was strange about them. They all seemed too human, too real to be just dolls taking a stance and forming seals. He felt an odd feeling that there were many pairs of eyes watching him, following him as he moved. It was a feeling he didn't like very much.

Sakura was off in the section farthest from the door, peering at a description plaque before a female mannequin wearing a mask similar to Kakashi-Sensei's but it was black. "Hijutsu; Tsuki Manako no Jutsu." Sakura read aloud. She looked up at the Kunoichi displayed in front of her before reading the rest of the description, "This Jutsu allows the user to see Chakra patterns of others. Strangely enough, it also causes the user to have glowing eyes. Observers have stated that the eyes of a Tsuki Manako user look much like a cat's in the dark. This Jutsu allows the user to easily predict the movements of their opponent and also allows them to easily counter many other Jutsus. This Jutsu is a bloodline limit of the Mitsuki Clan. If a member of the Mitsuki clan has good enough Chakra control, this Jutsu can be activated and left going for extended periods of time. " She glanced up at the mannequin once more and realized that the eyes were in fact, glowing. She took a step to the right and peered closer.

"What'cha looking at, Sakura-chan?" Naruto stepped up beside her and read the description himself, "Moon Eyes? What kind of lame name is that?" He looked up at the display and shrugged, "I think this is the lamest one yet. She's not _doing _anything. Just looking."

"Just looking at you, you mean." Sakura said quietly as she took a few steps to the left, her eyes never leaving the eyes of the display Kunoichi.

"Nani?" Naruto was confused and looked up at the mannequin, "Iie, Sakura-chan, it's looking at you." He turned to Sakura to see what she was talking about before looking back at the Mannequin, who was now, looking at Naruto. He gave a yelp in surprise and turned and waved Kakashi over to them.

"What is it Naruto?" Kakashi looked quite bored. He had seen nothing of interest to him. He couldn't copy a Jutsu from a display so he saw no real reason to linger too long on any one display.

"Sensei, there's something weird about this one. It's eyes keep moving. One second it's looking at me, the next, it's looking at Naruto." Sakura said as she leaned over the rope barrier and tried to get a closer look.

Sasuke looked up from the Aisu no Yori display to see the others grouped around one display across the room. Hands in his pockets he approached them. He glanced at the displayed Kunoichi and shrugged, it didn't seem to be an active Jutsu so he wasn't all that interested, but the rest of his team, including his Sensei seemed to be talking quickly and quietly amongst themselves.

Kakashi looked up as Sasuke approached them and almost at once, asked him a question, "Sasuke, what do you see when you look at this display?"

Sasuke shrugged, "Just a Kunoichi standing there, looking straight ahead. Her eyes are glowing. Why? What should I see?" He was slightly confused, what did it matter what he saw? All the displays seemed to be almost the same, boring, unmoving dolls. All cleverly carved from wood or some other substance. They all seem quite life-like though.

Kakashi shook his head and tapped the metal of his Hitai-ate, which covered his Sharingan eye, "Look again."

Sasuke shrugged and closed his eyes for a moment, when he opened them again, they were the crimson red of his clan's Shraingan and he looked at the display before him. To his surprise, a rather large amount of Chakra was pouring from the doll before him. When he glanced at Kakashi he noticed that this was what a person looked like, a form covered in what appeared as a colored fire. He looked at all the displays around him and his eyes widened in surprise. Every single one of them had Chakra pouring from them in waves. For some reason, the only one with a defined Chakra flame was the one before him, all the rest were just wisps that all trailed back towards the entrance, all towards the door marked "Keep Out".

Kakashi saw the look of astonishment on Sasuke's face and nodded to himself, "So you saw it too then?"

Sasuke nodded slowly, still quite unsure of what he saw. Unless his eyes were playing tricks on him, the display before the group was not a display at all, but a real live person caught in someone else's Jutsu.

Sakura and Naruto both looked quite confused, but it was Naruto who spoke first, "What did you see, Sensei?"

"These aren't displays." Kakashi paused for a moment, trying to decide on the next course of action, "These are real people."

"Nani!" Sakura and Naruto demanded almost before the words had left their Sensei's mouth.

"Sakura, you and Naruto go back to the Inn and grab the packs. I want you outside this city in fifteen minutes. Wait by the road where Naruto first saw the city. Speak to no one, and don't stop until you get there." Kakashi didn't turn to face his students, but stared at the ebony haired Kunoichi who was now looking at him. He wasn't sure if the woman before him could hear him or not, but from the looks of it, she was the only one remaining alive.

"Sensei?" Sakura didn't quite understand what was going on.

"Sakura, I will explain everything once we are out of this city. Keep Naruto on track, don't let him stop for anything."

Sakura nodded, grabbed Naruto by the hand and they quickly left the building.

Now Kakashi turned his attention to Sasuke, "I think it's a simple Kanashibari no Jutsu. Between the two of us, I think we can cancel it on just this one here." He said, indicating the woman, "If we cancel out the whole thing, I think Hayashi, or whoever he is, may notice."

Sasuke nodded and in unison both Sharingan users, Pupil and Teacher alike, focused on the woman, formed the seal, and said "Cancel."

All at once Sasuke noticed three things happen. The woman before them closed her eyes and looked as though she were going to fall, Kakashi hopped over the rope barrier and caught her in his arms, and a ringing alarm sounded though the building. The young Uchiha also noticed that somehow Kakashi-Sensei had found the time to push up his Hitai-ate so both of his eyes we in view.

"Run for the exit, now!" Kakashi barked at Sasuke as he jumped over the rope before him and ran for the exit with the woman in his arms and Sasuke close behind him.

#  
Hope I didn't push you readers along too quickly. For those of you out there who are curious, I had this chapter swimming around in my head for several weeks, and then I saw the movie House of Wax and I realized how I wanted to do this chapter. Please R&R. I will try to reply to as many as possible.

Oh yeah, you're probably wondering what Jutsus were what. I'll list them right here for you.

HiJutsu; Tsuki Manako no Jutsu (Secret Skill/ Blood Line Limit; Moon Eyes Technique)

Mizu Bunshin no Jutsu (Water Clone)

Suna Bunshin no Jutsu (Sand Clone)

Aisu no Yori (Armor of Ice)

Kanashibari no Jutsu (Body bind)

Please do not take, I spent a lot of time looking up definitions and creating this Jutsu for this story specifically. If you wish to use for whatever reason, e-mail me please. My e-mail can be found in my profile. Thank you!


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